A Story of a Mozambican Family

This is a sad story of a family that I have not met but I have heard about from someone who lived with them.

This family has a mother and a 14 yr-old daughter. We’re not sure if the father and mother were legally married. At any rate, he is out of the picture, living in another part of the country with another wife. The mother has numerous boyfriends who spent the night regularly until she got so sick with AIDS. This week she is in the hospital and seems to be on her deathbed and the men keep appearing at the house. “She’s sick? Oh, she said she just had high blood pressure.” Yes, that is the story of denial and high blood pressure and curses put on them by someone are the cause of her illness. Plus, the mother, the grandmother, and the mother’s friends all tell the daughter that she is the reason for the high blood pressure. And she believes it.

Witch doctors are regular visitors at the house as well. They are believed to have the answers to anything that is not going right in life. Thankfully, this last time the witchdoctor said he could not cure high blood pressure and told her to go to the hospital.

Then there is the woman’s brother whom she has given access to her bank account. When she went to the hospital she gave him her purse with her bank card. When she improved slightly she asked about the bank card so they could withdraw money for food. But lo and behold, the bank card is missing. This woman has had a good job. She has a good sized account and was planning to buy a car soon. She has built a nice house. But she has not drawn up a will because she is not sure she can trust her daughter with the money and so it will likely all end up with the brother whose attitude is the same toward the daughter – “it’s all her fault and she is a bad person.”

The person telling me the story has personal experience of this happening to her. She was 9 when her dad died and her mother was already gone. He left no will. His house, car and bank account were taken over by the uncles and she has never seen a penny of it. She has wandered from family to family who has rejected her and cannot seem to get out of poverty. Will this be the case for the 14 yr-old girl? It seems very likely that it could be.

It is difficult to hear about these stories and realize that there are many in these same situations. Lack of compassion, greed, looking out for Number 1 are all part of our sinful nature. Please pray with us for transformation that only Jesus can bring to these hearts and to this world.